Lower oil and fuel prices ultimately boost disposable incomes and food demand In a year of unprecedented events, this week commodity markets added another to the list. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil prices traded in negative territory on Tuesday for the first time ever. Already reeling from plunging prices over 2020, WTI oil prices traded as low as -$US40/barrel at one stage. The fall over 2020 owes to the COVID-19-induced collapse in global demand, while major producers also failed to agree on supply cuts…

Why farmland now? Financial markets are responding to the current limited visibility and uncertainty, both severely exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, by retreating towards safe haven investments such as U.S. treasuries (where yields have declined below 1%), gold and certain currencies (e.g. the U.S. dollar). A compelling alternative prior the virus outbreak, and made more so by coronavirus, is farmland. Farmland has a history of exhibiting unique value durability and income levels through economic downturns.…

Guide to Estancias of Argentina Rarely does one get something for nothing but the complete guide to the Estancias of Argentina is right now. But author, Stephane Parrenin, is offering the new release of his e-book via Gateway to South America literally for FREE. The e-book complete guide to Estancias of Argentina is called eStancias: It offers readers a list of estancias, per province, with a link to the property’s website and location on Google maps. These estancias provide various levels of hospitality…

“This is what we call hands-free cultivation ,” says Anthony Umina, managing member of Fresh Local Produce, when showing his newly realised fully automated growing system in Hudson, Ohio. Fresh Local Produce of Ohio started their production of fresh baby lettuce in a 2 acre greenhouse this February and their produce can already be found on the shelves of several grocery stores in the area. Fresh Local Produce is selling under the brand “Free! Leafy Greens”. This North American project was completed…

ITALY’S COMMUNISTS A RECIPE FOR DISASTER Giacomino Nicolazzo is one of Italy’s most beloved writers. Born and raised in Central Pennsylvania, he lives in a small village in Lombardy where he writes his books. Montecalvo, Lombardy, Italy. As I sit here in my involuntary isolation, it was just reported that overnight 743 more people died and 5.249 new cases have been reported. This brings the total cases of infection to 69,176 and the body count to 6,820. We take relief in knowing that 8,326…

After emerging in Wuhan the Covid-19 virus has turned global trade on its head by disrupting critical supply chains from China to international markets in a classic example of ‘force majeure’ which the Oxford Dictionary defines as a legal term for “Unforeseeable circumstances that prevent the fulfilment of a contract or disrupts business as usual”. The health emergencies Covid-19 has caused across the globe are accurately described by Oxford’s alternate definition of “Irresistible compulsion or…

Dairy farming has lots of potential in Southern Chile. Already one New Zealand dairy company called Manuka amongst others has got itself firmly established. Seventy per cent is owned by five cornerstone investing families, including the Van der Heyden family, and Mark and Diane Townshend of Fonterra fame. Since establishing operations in early 2005, Manuka has now established itself as a significant foreign investor in Chile’s dairy industry. So much so that Manuka now milks 25,000 of Chile’s…

Covid-19 is certainly not going to change the world forever, but it is going to change quite a few things, in some cases for a very long time. Here is some of them. 1. The clean air over China’s cities in the past month, thanks to an almost total shutdown of the big sources of pollution, has saved twenty times as many Chinese lives as Covid-19 has taken. (Air pollution kills about 1.1 million people in China every year.) People will remember this when the filthy air comes back and will want something done…

Interesting times from a legal perspective! With the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak continuing to unfold across the globe, the METS industry (Mining Equipment, Technology and Services ) has not been invulnerable to the effects of the pandemic, as global supply chains and other commercial agreements are subject to great pressure. Many of our clients in the METS industry have already approached us regarding some of the potential legal impacts of the pandemic, with one of the key concerns that industry players…

I wrote this article at Santiago Airport, waiting for a rescheduled flight to New Zealand. It had been a long night with flights cancelled because of the tragic Santiago riots, and thousands of stranded passengers sleeping on chairs and on the floor. It took 56 hours to get home from Osorno in Chile’s dairy heartland back to Canterbury. Definitely too long for old bones! I came to Chile at the request of Chilean dairy groups, including support from their government, to talk about A2 milk. As most of my readers…

The Lake District of Southern Chile, Osorno, is the agricultural centre of the 10th region. Located at the confluence of the Rahue and Damas rivers in the sight of the active but minor Osorno Volcano, the pasture growth is excellent as the volcanic soils are naturally fertile and predominantly free-draining. The region has interestingly preserved much of the 19th-century architecture and urban layout with its large park decorated with beautiful fountains, benches and stunning tree-lined avenues in the city’s…

Consulting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers recently ranked the richest cities in the world by measuring economic output and consumer buying power. Santiago ranked 53rd overall, but 5th among other cities in Latin America, after Mexico, Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The survey ranked 151 major cities by dividing the city GDP by the purchasing power of each resident. Tokyo and New York took the top two positions by a high margin: according the report, Tokyo is worth US$1.2 billion and New York US$1.1…

Coronavirus continues to be a black swan hitting the markets, with both the stock market and commodity market getting hit hard on Monday. The Dow was on pace to have its worst day in two years. The number of cases outside of China shot up over the weekend, and the World Health Organization (WHO) even acknowledged the world is not ready for the virus’ global spread. DuWayne Bosse of Bolt Marketing says the main factor driving down prices on Monday is uncertainty. “Markets hate uncertainty, especially…

The philanthropist talks about her battle to protect the wilds of Chile and Argentina Sometime in the southern hemisphere summer of 1990, Kristine McDivitt, then CEO of the Californian outdoor-apparel company Patagonia, took “a bunch of new executives” to Argentina to show them the terrain its clothing was designed to weather. It was a chance to “imbue them with the company’s ethos and spirit”. There, in the middle of nowhere, she ran into Douglas Tompkins, co-founder of the rival outdoor-gear…

Max Gill and Michelle D’Artigues join as Principals in Mexico City, continue partnership to grow business line for the region Max Gill and Michelle D’Artigues join as Principals in Mexico City, continue partnership to grow business line for the region Mexico City, MX – Emile Sarraf, Avison Young Principal and Managing Director of the firm’s Mexico City office, today announced the appointment of Max Gill and Michelle D’Artigues as Avison Young Principals. Gill and D’Artigues,…